Safety crossing



Sept. 28 1926.

C. BENTZ SAFETY CROSSING Filed March 9, 1926 Patented Sept. 28, 1926.

h'dLZSti CHARLES BENTZ, OF ST. MARYS, OHIO.

SAFETY CROSSING.

Application filed March 9, 1926. Serial No. 93,502.

The present invention is directed to improvements in safety crossings for railways.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of this character so constructed that the units thereof can be conveniently placed upon opposite sides of a railway crossing, the construction being such that the units can be placed in comparatively narrow roadways.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character construct ed and arranged in such manner that motor vehicles approaching the crossing will be compelled to materially reduce their speed before the crossing is reached, thereby giv ing them time to either cross or stop in case of danger. Y

\Vith these and other objects in view, this invention resides in the novel features of construction, formation, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a. plan view of the device.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing 1 design ates the railway crossing and 2 the main roadway which intersects the same, the boundary of the roadway being indicated by dotted lines.

Disposed upon opposite sides of the crossing are safety units and since they are iden tical in construction the description of one will sufiice for both. Each unit consists of spaced walls 4 and 5, which produce a straight passage 6 which communicates with the main roadway 2. Arranged adjacent the passage 6 are inner and outer curved walls 7 and 8, respectively, the tangent of the latter merging with the wall 5. The walls 7 and 8 provide curved passages 9, said walls having their ends terminating in straight wall sections 10, whereby straight passages A and B are provided in order that the driver of a car will be enabled, when approaching the crossing, to observe it a train is approaching either from the left or right. The wall sections 10 defining the passage B are gradually curved and terminate a short distance from the crossing 1.

Merged with the wall 8 is a gradually curved wall 11 which terminates centrally of the main roadway 2, said wall having its outer end merged with the outer end of the gradually curved wall 12, said wall having its inner end joined to the adjacent wall 10 of the passage A. By arranging the wall 11 and 12 in this manner. a substantially trian gular shaped abutment 13 is provided, the apex of which alines with the center line of the main roadway 2. It will be observed that by this arrangement a comparatively large space is provided for cars after leaving the passage 6.

Spaced from the wall 12 is a. wall 14 having a thickened curved section 15 to withstand shoclrs should a driver enter the passage 16 formed by said walls at too great speed. The wall 14 is somewhat longer than the wall 12 and owing to the curvature of the latter a substantially flared entrance is produced. The entrance andthe approach thereto have transverse ribs or undulations 17 formed therein in order that a driver will be cognizant of the fact that a crossing is being approached and will be enabled to enter the unit with care.

It will be obvious that as soon as a car encounters the ribs 17 the speed thereof will have to be materially reduced before entering the passage 16 and it will be necessary to further reduce the speed before reaching the crossing owing to the presence of the curved passages 9. Since the driver can observe whether or not a train is approaching the crossing from either direction as thepassages A and B are travelled only an extremely careless driver will be in danger.

The arrangement of the respective walls is such that the passages are so arranged that cars can freely pass each other when traveling in opposite directions, and after leaving the passages 6 the main roadway can be quickly gained.

The present construction is an improvement of my pending application Ser. No. 59,021 filed September 28, 1925 and is designed especially for use in connection with roadways which are comparatively narrow.

The respective walls as well as the ribs 17 are preferably formed from cement and the walls are of such height as to stop a car should they be disregarded.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. The combination with a. railway cross ing, of amain roadway intersecting the same, a plurality of walls located upon opposite sides of the crossing, said walls being arranged to provide independent passages leading to and from the crossing, said passages communicating with each other at laterally spaced points adjacent the crossing, and triangular shaped abutments located in the roadway to provide substantially flared exits and entrances for the passages.

2. The combination With a railway crossing, of a main roadway intersecting the same, pairs of spaced Walls located on 0pposite sides of the crossing and defining di agonally disposed straight passages, curved Walls disposed in diagonal relation upon opposite sides of the crossing and defining curved passages which conununicate 'ith the straight passages adjacent the crossing, certain of the curved Walls having connect-- ed thereto trianguiar shaped abutments de fining flared approaches and entrances to the curved and straight passages, respectively, and ribs disposed transversely in the approaches.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES BEN. 

